Why you shouldn’t run a marathon without training

Hello! Hope you all had a nice weekend.

So last week I was meant to start my coaching with Kyle. Unfortunately things haven’t got off to a great start. I took 10 days off of running after the Berlin marathon to rest because I knew I needed it. When I finished Berlin everything ached, but the day after I could distinguish pain from the ache: I had a poorly sore foot. I wasn’t too concerned because I knew I was taking time off anyway.

The foot remained quite sore for that week and then subsided to more of a niggle the next week. But by Friday it felt near enough OK and I had my new trainers arrive so I thought I’d go for a run.Adidas Boosts

At no time during the run did I feel pain and afterwards it was pretty much fine. But on Monday at the end of my first training run set by Kyle (30 mins easy) I felt my foot. Stupidly I attempted running again on the Tuesday night and it wasn’t happy at all, so I quit the run after half-way through.

I haven’t run since Tuesday. I’ve been using hot and cold therapy (icing for 4 minutes and then putting a hot water bottle on it for 4 minutes, and repeating – what fun evenings I have!). Kyle has been brilliant, he saw me on Tuesday night after the run and we’re pretty sure its do with my peroneal tendon (goes down the leg to my ankle and foot) and he’s been giving me lots of advice and stretches.

image

Strangely though I’m not panicking or feeling upset. Obviously I’d love to be running right now but at the same time I did just run a marathon on a pathetic amount of training and got a PB. So I would say this is probably what I deserve! I don’t have any real goals for the rest of the year so I’m actually quite relaxed at the moment about the whole thing – which is an absolute first!

I won’t lie, I would still love to run the Portsmouth Coastal marathon in December but I really should be running now if I want to do that sensibly. My thoughts are it’s highly unlikely, especially as I want to start next year feeling fresh and good for training for the London marathon. But like I said, I’m not stressing. I’d just like to get back into normal running but for now I’m OK using the elliptical machine, cycling, doing weights and yoga.

Cross trainer

The archaic beast in our small gym at work

What I would say is is that Ben’s injury has given me a whole new perspective on things. He has been out for so long and his injury is fairly serious – months not weeks. My pathetic foot thing can’t compare so I need to shut up and just be patient. It could be a lot worse. The body is precious and I need to remember that. This year has been fairly pants with repeated injuries but I need to learn from them and not rush things. I’ve jumped from one race to the next and haven’t had proper rest. But I’ve achieved what I wanted to this year – two marathons! And I bloody loved them, so I’m happy and content at the moment 🙂

How do you feel when you’re injured?

What are your goals for the rest of the year?

What’s your favourite way to cross-train?

15 Replies to “Why you shouldn’t run a marathon without training”

  1. Sorry to hear your injured 🙁 I ended up with a similar problem after the London Marathon and then running a half marathon about 3 weeks later! Hope Kyle is working his magic and gets you running again soon!

    1. Good to hear I’m not alone then, Michelle! Kyle’s been brilliant and I’ve been sensibly following his advice. It’s so much better already – I’m able to run without any issue so just taking it slowly and gently for now.

  2. I’m so sorry for both you and Ben 🙁 You have such a great attitude in terms of putting things in perspective though. I’ve always been useless at that, and it’s something I wish I was able to do when injury strikes. Just the other day I was hobbling along at what I thought was an embarrassing pace when a man using a walking stick passed by me on the other side of the pavement and said ‘I wish I was fit and healthy’ to me. I felt absolutely awful. I wanted to say that I wasn’t fit and healthy at all and I was really struggling even to run, but how could I when my problems were nothing compared to his? I was so sad for the rest of the day. I just wish I could help him, you, Ben, myself…I think everyone deserves multiple chances to be ‘fixed’ and as mobile as they choose to be.

    I had problems with that tendon at the end of 2012 and it is a really insidious injury. It was so painful that I had to drop out of day 2 of a marathon double and then couldn’t run for a good fortnight either side of that race. I found that wearing calf-sleeves and k-taping my ankles and foot helped a bit, but mostly the eventual healing was down to the boring old RICE method and lots of yoga (which helped stretch out my calves and feet).

    Wishing you a speedy recovery!

    xxx
    Jess recently posted…Hello?My Profile

    1. Oh that’s sad about the old man. It is funny the assumptions people make though. It’s all relative!
      Ahh don’t say it’s insidious! I’m stretching my calves at any opportunity and now wearing calf sleeves as well which I think is helping. Icing is definitely my friend right now as well. But yes it is mainly just about resting. Thankfully I managed a 20minute run last night with no issues so I’m taking things slowly and gently for now. Fingers crossed!

  3. As always, fingers crossed for a speedy recovery, but you sound so calm and relaxed about it which is good. You have achieved so much this year! I’ve been guilty of jumping from race to race as well, and it’s only luck that I haven’t been severely injured. I’m planning on racing a lot less at the start of next year and really focusing on a Spring marathon. I’d like to run the Bedford half marathon at the start of December but I don’t want to add too many races to my list and know I need to build up to the marathon properly this time round to finally crack it which I’m determined to do!
    Mary recently posted…The maps are outMy Profile

  4. At least you are seeing Kyle so hopefully he can support you in getting fit/ injury free as soon as possible.
    I think running 2 marathons in a year is amazing, and it is great that you are so happy that you have achieved those goals and not getting too down about your foot. Like you say hopefully if you keep on with the icing (is that how you spell that sort of ice??? It looks strange) and stretching you will be Ok to start training again soon.
    I am terrible at cross training- I enjoy the body pump class I do, but I don’t really do anything else apart from walking.
    Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Coconut water winner!My Profile

  5. Well that sucks! I tried to get back into running too soon after my ultra in May, worried I should be training for Berlin, but actually if I had taken a few extra weeks off then I don’t think I would have got injured at all. I would probably focus on London, and take the next few months easy. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
    Lauren (@poweredbypb) recently posted…Om Yoga Magazine OctoberMy Profile

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